


Never Knowing

by NancyDfan



Category: Nancy Drew (Video Games)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Relationship Talk, Smoking, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-12 09:43:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18443984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NancyDfan/pseuds/NancyDfan
Summary: Scott reminds Nancy never knowing the fate of a loved one can be worse than death.





	Never Knowing

**Author's Note:**

> This really fits in the universe of a long Scott&Nancy fic I’m writing but who knows when that’ll be posted so I’m just going to post this one now.
> 
> Not betad. Expect typos

Nancy sighs letting the cool air of home calm her. She turns off the engine and stares ahead at the small farmhouse her and Scott have called home for the last three years. Her mind floods with images of sparks, blood, and gunshots, and she can't wait to drown it all with a marathon of _Lilo and Stitch_ and Koko Kringle ice cream.

She steps from the car and up the walkway. It's 1:30 AM, and the house is dark. Nancy wonders if Scott's asleep, and almost hopes he’s not. She drops the keys in the dish next to the door and shuts it quietly. Nancy drags her luggage to the corner leaving it for tomorrow half considering asking Scott to unpack it for her. He usually does, she thinks fondly, and she heads to the kitchen for a late night snack before slipping into their room. Nancy's halfway there when she hears a click behind her. 

Out of the corner of her eye she sees a random henchmen standing a few feet behind her. Nancy knows she's only got seconds before he shoots, and she dives towards him trying to wrestle the gun away from him. They crash to the floor. Nancy knocks the gun away from him, and it slides across the living room. She stands and rushes after it. He delivers a punch to her jaw, and she goes careening backwards. When she scrambles to her feet, Nancy sees a gun aimed at her head. She breathes deeply preparing a last ditch effort when she hears a shot, and the man in front of her collapses to the floor.

Nancy jerks to her right and spots Scott holding up a gun with a grim look across his face. "Are there more?" 

"I don't know," she admits. Nancy grabs the goon's gun and checks around the home and perimeter. She breathes a little more freely when she steps back inside, and Scott indicates his all clear. "I think it was just him."

"Do me a favor and don't bring killer henchman home," Scott mutters stowing his gun and checking the pulse of the man on the floor. He lets her know he's dead as if the bullet through his temple didn't tell her that already. 

Nancy looks at her husband. "I didn't know you were such a good shot."

"My dad was a hunter," he answers. "Taught me everything I know." 

"I thought your dad was drunk." 

Scott shrugs. "Let's just say our trips were interesting." He reaches for the phone. "Guess we should get the cops here." He frowns at the floor. "We just bought this carpet too." 

"Scott!" Nancy cries in horror.

"What?" he rolls his eyes. "He was a bad dude holding a gun to you. I'm hardly going to lose sleep over it tonight."

"Right," Nancy replies letting the conversation drop. The police arrive taking their focus with asking questions and politely directing them to a nearby hotel. By the time they've landed in the bed, Nancy wants to sleep for a million years. 

But sleep's an elusive enemy. Not that Nancy can't sleep. She's used to near death situations albeit not so close to home. The problem is her husband will not hold still, and he keeps moving every few minutes jostling her from any sleep she can get.

"I thought you said you weren't going to lose any sleep over it," Nancy mutters finally turning to her husband.

"I'm an insomniac, Nancy. I never sleep," he reminds her.

Nancy reaches out to grasp his hand. "Then why are you shaking?"

Scott looks down as if he hadn't even realized what his body was doing. She hears him sigh. "I never ask about your cases, Nancy. I know you keep them from me for my own sanity. For all I know, you disappear for a shopping trip or vacation. Outside of a few wounds here and there, I'd never even know if you were in trouble." He turns to look at her. "But that man was going to kill you, Nancy. He would have if I hadn't been there."

"I know," she answers quietly.

"I don't know how to process this," he continues. "I don't care about him; let him rot in hell. But I can't help but think about what you face out there every time you're gone."

Nancy squeezes his hand. "It's not usually this bad." 

"Usually?" he snorts. "That's reassuring."

"I know it's not," Nancy admits. "But I got mixed up with some bad guys this time. I didn't think they'd follow me home." 

"Maybe you can avoid cases with the really bad guys from now on," Scott suggests. 

Nancy gives him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Scott, but-"

"You can't. I know," he finishes for her quietly. 

She slides her hand across his chest trying to calm him. "I promise I'll always come home to you." 

Scott grabs her hand and squeezes tightly. "Don't, don't make promises you may not keep." Nancy starts to speak, but he stops her. "No, I'm serious, Nancy. You don't know if you'll always come home, and I, I don't know if I can deal with that anymore."

Nancy sits up. "What do you mean?"

"I need to know more," he looks up at her. "I need to know where you are. I need to know if you're alive, if everything is okay. You could die in some foreign city, Nancy, and I would never know because I don't even realize you’re there." 

"This could put you in danger," Nancy protests.

Scott shakes his head. "I don't care. I can't live like this anymore. Not after tonight."

"I can't risk your life," she tries again.

Scott sits up with her. "You don't have to tell me everything, but a quick text informing me you're in Chicago or Australia would help ease my anxiety a bit. And if you needed my help? How would I know where to look?"

"If it came to that, it'd probably be too late anyway," she admits. Scott looks away. "I know you don't want to hear this, Scott, but it's the truth. If I'm in trouble, by the time you'd get to the airport, I'd probably be dead." 

He stares ahead for several seconds. "Then at least I'd know where to look for a body."

"And risk your life too?" Nancy scoffs. "Not a chance." 

Scott turns to her, fire flashing in his eyes. "You're insane if you think I'd just let you go like that." 

"If I'm dead, there's nothing you can do for me," she tries. "Scott, please, I know this is hard, but I love you too much to risk your life. If I take you with me, I'd, I don't want that for you."

Scott stands suddenly yanking the side table's drawer opening. "I'm going for a smoke," he mutters slipping his shoes on and rushing to the door.

"Hold up," Nancy chases after him. "Scott! Wait!" But he's out the door before she can stop him. 

Nancy grabs a robe, her own shoes, and room key before racing after him. By the time she gets to the front of the hotel, Scott's already lit his first cigarette. "I wish you wouldn't do that."

Scott is tight lipped. "I smoked to calm my nerves long before we got together." 

"Do you always smoke while I'm gone?" she asks pulling the robe tighter around her. 

"No," he shakes his head. "Only once and a while. Mostly when you're gone longer than my brain can justify. Or that time you called from the airport and the call dropped. I figured you'd been killed." Scott stops choking. "I didn't even know where you were. I called everyone I thought might know, and then six hours later you just came walking through the door as if nothing had happened." 

Nancy feels her heart thump. "I, I didn't know that." 

Scott shrugs. "I didn't tell you. What would it do anyway? I was just glad you were alive." He looks at her, and she hurts seeing the sadness in his eyes. "That's why I want to know where you're at, Nancy. To know you're still alive. Even if I couldn't save you, don't I deserve to at least know? Why would you condemn me to the possible fate of never knowing where my wife was? To wonder for years if you were alive or dead, buried in some abandoned grave?"

Nancy's silent for a moment. She never thought of it this way, and she feels her stomach flip thinking of a scenario where she never comes home; Scott never knowing where to find her body. Over the years, she's only solved a few missing person cases, but each time, her heart hurts to see the years of anguish the families lived. How did she not think of Scott and the pain she'd inflict on his life by just walking out one day for a case and never returning?

"Hey, hey," Scott's voice breaks into her thoughts, and she feels his hands on her face wiping away tears that have spilled from her eyes. "You're not allowed to cry on me." 

Nancy buries her face in his chest. "I'm so sorry, Scott. I didn't realize; I didn't think of that way. I never meant, I'd never wish that on you." 

Scott holds her. "I know." 

She looks up at him. "I'll tell you going forward. Where I'm at. A quick text to let you know I'm still breathing if I can.

"It's all I ask," he says then smiles. "And for you to come home to me."

Nancy squeezes him tightly. "As long as you're waiting for me, I will."

"Good," he answers pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. "Now come on. Let's try to get some sleep."

"You think you'll sleep this time?" she nudges him.

"Nope," Scott replies holding the door open for her. "But I can watch you, and tonight, that's good enough for me."

Nancy smiles and follows him back to their room where she nestles into him. She's grateful she has someone to watch over her as she sleeps, and she thinks when she looks up at him that he's happy for this too.  That tonight he knows she’s safe with him. 


End file.
